ANGUL: The tribal village Asanbahal situated in Satkosia’s Pampasar range, is all set to be relocated to a new place by May for execution of Satkosia tiger project. This is reportedly the third village to be shifted after Raiguda and Katrang. While residents of Raiguda were rehabilitated to New Raiguda, people of Katrang left the village by accepting cash package.
Sources said, out of 88 families in Asanbahal village, 22 have accepted cash package. The rest 66 families will be relocated to a new resettlement site Dhauragotha in Tainisi panchayat under Angul block. Each family will get Rs 15 lakh cash and four decimal land besides a house under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).
The state government will spend around `20 crore to provide water supply, electricity and schools to the displaced families. Divisional forest officer (DFO), Satkosia, Saroj Kumar Panda said construction of temporary houses at Dhauragotha has already begun and rehabilitation process is expected to be complete by May.
“The new village will have all modern facilities. Works with the respective departments are going on in full swing so that the project is completed by March and villagers shifted by May,” he added. Till now, three villages including Asanbahal have been shifted away from the core area of the tiger project and another couple of villages are in the pipeline, Panda said adding, “Shifting of the villages will pave way for implementation of the tiger project.”